Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1887-07-15
JOHN BRANDS SECRET.
Why He Asked Miss Penhryn to
Marry Him.

not. /, myself heard it from sewers
sources. The surprising part of til
affair was that he should have imal
ined it possible to keep any thing say
oring of secrecy from the dear old idl
gossips, who, year after year, pitche
their tents at Sea Cliff, that mos
charming of watering-places. But me
are never consistent! AT least that
my impression. Speaking of gossips
ldon't hesitate to claim myself cham
pion. But it is my business to talk
and talk | do with vengeance. HoN
should l find material whercwith t
amuse the large number of subscriber
to the Weekly Tattler, if 1 did not us
my tongucP
1t is all very well to suppos
that subjects float around in tn
brain in picturesque confusion, onl,
waiting to be seized upon an,
conveyed to more healthy local
tiles. But that's moonshine! Subject
are, for the most part, picked up from
everyday intercourse with every-da,
people, and are nodded into shape by
n persistent method of grinding. A
least that's how / get mine. For the
past five years l have spent the month!
of July and August at the Sea Cliff
Ocean Beach Hotel; and it can readily
be conceived how close resemblance
bear to the crafty Machiavel, when
state that L continue to sail under
false colors. insomuch as my identity
has never been discovered, and l con.
tinue to pass for the most inoffensive
and innocent of women!
In reality, am the most hypocriti.
cal. While my friends are chattering
away indiscreetly, l am mentally tax.
ing notes and drawing inferences. Sc
that when HE me away to my lodg.
ing-hopse in New York, | have only tc
deposit the contents of my battered in
trunk upon the floor, and, presto! what
n budget of items greet me? chuckle
as / sort them over.
But to return. The Ocean Beach
Hotel is small, very exclusive, and, ]
may add, very expensive. My pres.
ence there is easily accounted for. The
1attler defrays my expenses. Such i:
literary distinction
We have only the genuinely swell
people stopping here. Most of om
rooms overlook the grand old ocean;
and the ocean at Sea Cliff is something
to write about; bound as it is by rug.
ged coast, over which rocks of noun
famous grandeur tower majestically.
Often have | stood upon the balcony
leading from my chamber, and fancied
myself in some enchanted land, so re-
splendent is the scene which met my
eye. Fancy moonlit sea, lying pale
and spectral in the witching calm of n
midsummer night. Imagine vast
army of tremulous waves, bathed in
opalescent light, rising and falling
tumultuously; picture those foamy bill
lows, rapturously tossing themselves,
one against the other, till, in an ecstacy
of passion, they dash against the sky,
where n blood-red star pierces their
fretting bosom, and sends them foam
ing, secthing, raging back into their
ocean bed
Sea Cliff by dty is quite as attractive
MS Sea Cliff by night. At least it is to
the generality of people. The hotel
this last season was filled to overflow
ing, but as my story has only to do
with lady, gentleman and an old
woman, will confine myself to them.
The gentleman l knew very we'll;
that is, | had Il several summers ac-
quaintance with him. He interested
me immensely, and have no hesitation
in confessing it, indeed, longed to
write him up, but the unfeeling wretch
never gave me the ghost of a chance.
However, opportunities always arrive,
if we wait long enough for them, and
mine came at last. seized upon it
with avidity. The gentleman i refer
to was Mr.. John Brand, eight and
thirty or thereabouts, and a lawyer by
profession. He was the last person in
the world one would select for hero;
grave, taciturn fellow, who stunned
society, and who passed the bet
ter part of his time grinding away at the
dullest of all the dull law books that
his library contained. Something of a
cynic, he held a great many dogmatic
views, and these he did not scruple to
infuse into the really creditable articles
which, from time to time, appeared in
the leading journals over his signature.
This arbitrary and self-opinionated dis
position, while it won for him a high
place at the bar, failed to cndear him
20 his associates or friends. Those
who once felt the sting of his satire
were wont to hold aloof afterward, and
it thus happened that, though rich,
brilliant and successful, he was not n
general favorite. Don't let it be sup
posed that the knowledge of this ostra-
cism disturbed his equanimity, or in
any way caused him discontinue; it
didn't. He was quite sufficient unto
himself, and derived neither any great
degree of satisfaction nor enjoyment
from an intimate association with his
fsllow-beings.
For all his austerity and virulence.
Mr. Brand was, nevertheless, the pos
SCISSOR of a very good heart; but he had
an original way of showing it. For
instance, i once saw him throw gold
piece to whining beggar, with the
pious CALCULATIONS: Take it and drink
yourself to death, and if itisn't enough,
come back and I'll give you more"
Mr.. Brand was bachelor, but he
was not one from choice. 1t N $ seem
peculiar, taken with his other charac-
teristics, that he should have favored
matrimony, but he did, with certain
amendments, however.
The marriage state as 1t existed was,
according to his philosophy, defective
concerns altogether too inadequate and